ANGEL FACE

09.24.11

Prosecutors Seek Life Sentence for Knox

Mario Laporta / AFP / Getty Images

Prosecutors in the Amanda Knox case are firing back with harsh sentiments after a Perugia court rejected their request for new DNA testing of the alleged murder weapons. During a hearing Saturday, Italian prosecutors urged an appeals court to uphold Knox's murder conviction despite the "media campaign" in support of the pretty American student, imploring the jurors to think instead of the victim, Meredith Kercher. They argued that Knox and former boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito both deserved life in prison—Italy's harshest sentence. During the first round of closing arguments, which lasted roughly seven hours, prosecutors summarized circumstantial evidence, testimonies, and defended forensic evidence that has previously pointed to Knox and Sollecito as being involved with the murder. DNA remains a crucial element in the murder case, since no clear motive for Kercher's killing has ever emerged. A verdict is expected at the end of September.